Wire coat hanger attachment

ABSTRACT

This invention relates generally to garment hangers and particularly to a shoulder and trouser support attachment for use with coat hangers of the conventional bent wire type and that is intended as a throw away device along with the wire hanger after the garments have been removed therefrom.

This is a continuation in part of application No. 756,684, filed Jan. 4,1977, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 4,066,193.

Numerous garment supporting devices of this general type have beenpreviously devised and many of which have served a useful purpose inpreventing unsightly bulges forming upon the shoulders of a garmentsuspended from a hanger that offered too little surface support to theshoulder material for the weight of the garment suspended thereon. Thisis particularly true in the case of garments returned from the cleanersupon bent wire hangers where the garment is hung hot and damp from thesteam press upon such hangers while the material of the shoulders isstill soft and pliable. Bulges formed in this manner upon the shoulders,say of a man's coat, will alter the contour and cut of the coat andpermanently disfigure the garment until again cleaned whereupon thedamaging operation is repeated.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a cheap, preferablycardboard throw-away shoulder support attachment for a conventional bentwire hanger that may, when needed for a garment such as a man's coat, besleeved over the curved ends of the hanger to lock therewith to providea wide shoulder supporting surface for the garment as long as it reststhereon and which may thereafter be thrown away with the hanger.

A still further object is to provide an inexpensive throw-away shoulderand trouser supporting attachment for a conventional bent wire hangerthat may be quickly and easily installed as a one piece assembly by thecleaner to lock with the hanger with a single mounting operation withoutthe use of special tools or equipment.

A still further object is to provide the combination of a shoulder andtrouser support attachment for use with a conventional wire hanger thatin operation provides a wide bearing surface for the garments supportedtherefrom thusly eliminating the bulge upon the coat and crease upon thetrousers generally accompanying the use of bare wire hangers of thistype.

In order that this invention may be more readily understood, referenceis now made to the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view in elevation of one end of the attachment of theinvention as mounted upon the end of a conventional garment hanger ofthe bent wire type.

FIG. 2 is a view, partly cut-away and as taken along 2--2 of FIG. 1 andshowing the cresent cut-through in position securing the attachment inplace upon the hanger.

FIG. 3 is a plan view in elevation showing the attachment as assembledand flattened for packaging.

FIG. 4 shows the device as assembled with a conventional wire hanger.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1 thereof whereinthe device 5 of the present invention is shown as comprised of a garmentor shoulder supporting plate like number 6 which may be of any suitableconfiguration, desirably such as shown in FIG. 3. For cheapness, thisplate 6 may be formed from any suitable type of cardboard or thinplastic and of a thickness sufficiently pliable as to conform yieldablyto the inner contour of a garment supported therefrom.

Partially secured as at 7, FIG. 1 to the underside of plate 6, is asecond plate 8 preferably of a similar material to that of plate 6. Thefree end of plate 8 is so positioned with respect to plate 6 that whenthis extending end portion 9 thereof is manually depressed downward tobreak at the break line 10, there is formed thereby a depending flange11 from plate 6 through which has been previously cut a crescent likeslot 12. Through this slot is received, when mounting the attachmentupon a hanger, the curved end portions 14 of the hanger as shown toadvantage in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4. When the hanger ends are pressed toseating position within the slot 12; the curved portin 12 of thecrescent cut-through moves to the position shown to thereby effectivelylock behind the curved ends 14 of the hanger to positively secure theattachment to the hanger.

Further, by reason of the curved nature of slot 12, as the hanger endsare forcefully inserted through the slot, the plate 8 is in a mannercammed downward and tightly against the upper surface of the hanger bar15 and whereby the attachment is more ridgidly secured in place upon thehanger. The optional cut-outs 16, and as respectively shown in FIGS. 3and 4, may be used to provide suitable guide-like openings adjacent theslot 12 for initially receiving the curved end portion of 14 of thehanger as the attachment is mounted thereon and thereby to facilitateassembly of the attachment with the hanger. These cut-outs will in noway reduce the effectiveness of the locking arrangement as provided bythe crescent cut 12.

Secured as by cementing or stapleing to the flange 11 as at 13, is atrouser supporting plate 17 formed desirably as shown in FIG. 3. Thisstructure provides that as the shoulder supporting ends of theattachment are moved, as by folding over the outer curved ends of thehanger to be secured within the slot 12, the plate 17 is caused to moveto a resting position over the horizontal cross-member 18 of the hangerand in such a manner as to provide a wide bearing surface for trouserssuspended thereover. In addition to providing a wide bearing surface,the strip 17 further serves to effectively tie the shoulder supportingends of the attachment together and thereby to provide a more ruggedoverall one-unit assembly as apparent from FIG. 4.

To prevent snagging of a garment with the inner or small end of theplates 6, there is provided adjacent the small end thereof a hold andslot 20 and 21 respectively and which, as the attachment 5 is beingmounted upon the hanger, is manually pressed over the sloping wireportion 15 of the hanger to interlock therewith in the manner shown tosecure the small end of the plates to the hanger. This arrangementprevents the small ends of the plates bending away from the hanger totangle with a garment being placed or removed from the hanger.

While herein is shown the plates or supporting members of the attachmentas being comprised of two pieces of cardboard or the like, it isunderstood that these plates may be formed as a one piece fold-over ifdesired or as a plastic molding. Further, while herein the slot 12 isshown as a crescent cut, it is understood that this slot could be madeas a straight cut-through however, it has been found that a crescent cutas herein shown is far superior in gripping the hanger surface byproviding a locking action with the hanger that is not possible with astraight made cut.

What I therefore claim and desire to cover by letters patent is:
 1. Agarment supporting attachment for attaching to a conventional bent wirecoat hanger having sloping garment shoulder supporting surfacesconnected by curved end portions to a horizontal cross-member saidsupporting attachment comprising, two shoulder supporting portions eachrespectively, including a first plate having first and second end withsaid first end for mounting over and extending beyond the curved endportion of the hanger, means forming a second plate secured to andforming an integral part of said first plate and including a freeportion having therein a transverse crease line inwardly of said firstend and a portion manually engagable to facilitate the bending of saidfree portion from said first plate at said crease-line, means forming anelongated slit extending through said free portion for receiving thereinthe curved end of said hanger with the sides of said slit beingoperative to frictionally grip the sides of said hanger as the curvedend portion of the hanger is forcefully inserted to seated positionwithin said slit to form by said slitted free portion a first securingmeans for fastening said attachment to said hanger, means forming asecond securing means extending from the integral portion of said firstplate at second end thereof and manually movable into locking engagementwith the sloping garment supporting surface of said hanger andcooperative with said first securing means to maintain respectivelyaffixed each of said shoulder supporting attachments mounted over thecurved outer end portions of said hanger, a trouser supporting striprespectively affixed at its ends to the free portion of each of saidshoulder supporting members and having a portion movable over the wirecross member of said hanger as the curved hanger ends are respectivelyreceived in said slits during mounting of said attachment to a hangerand with said strip and said first and second securing means, when freeof said hanger, being movable to a substantially flat assembly forstacking one upon the other for advantageous packaging shipping andhandling.
 2. A garment supporting attachment for a wire hanger as calledfor in claim 1 wherein the slit in said free portion is in theconfiguration of a crescent cut-through.
 3. A garment supportingattachment for a wire hanger as called for in claim 1 wherein said slitincludes an enlarged guide opening space significantly inwardly from theends of the slit.
 4. A garment supporting attachment for a wire coathanger as called for in claim 1 wherein said free portion includes aportion movable behind the curved end of the hanger after the latter isinserted through the slit in said free portion.
 5. A garment supportingattachment for a wire coat hanger as called for in claim 1 wherein onlythe side of one end of said strip is affixed to said free portion andwith said strip including a free side for extending over said crossmember of said hanger as the attachment is mounted upon said hanger. 6.A garment supporting attachment for a wire garment hanger as called forin claim 1 wherein said means for locking behind the sloping shouldersupporting surfaces of said hanger is in the form of a hole andintersecting slit and moveable out of the plane of said plate to lockbehind the sloping wire should supporting surfaces of said hanger.
 7. Agarment supporting attachment for a wire coat hanger as called for inclaim 1 wherein said plate, flange and strip are compressable into asubstantially flat assembly for stacking and packaging.
 8. A garmentsupporting attachment as called for in claim 1 wherein said trousersupporting strip is formed as an integral portion of said free portionof said shoulder supporting portions of said attachment.